Rosberg in seven heaven

From pole position, Rosberg led Bottas and Raikkonen through the Turn 1 sweeper. Raikkonen grabbed second at Turn 2, but it all kicked off behind him as an out-of-control Kvyat hit Vettel into the second Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo.

Behind them, Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg went out at Turn 2 for the second time in succession at Sochi after being rear-ended by Esteban Gutierrez’s Haas. In the chaos that ensued, teammate Sergio Perez suffered a right-rear puncture.

Moments later, Vettel was hit by Kvyat again, spinning and then crashing out at Turn 3, causing a safety car.

Vettel ranted on the radio: “Somebody hit me in the f**king rear in Turn 2, then someone hit me in the f**king rear again in Turn 3. F**ksake, what are we doing here?”

Kvyat pitted for new nose, as did Ricciardo – who opted for the medium-compound tyre. Later, Kvyat was given a 10s stop/go penalty for his misdemeanours, as was Gutierrez.

At the restart on lap four, Rosberg led with ease as Bottas repassed Raikkonen for second at Turn 2, and Hamilton passed Massa for fourth behind them. Verstappen now attacked Massa, with Alonso tracking his every move.

Hamilton outbraked Raikkonen after Kimi failed to pass Bottas at the start of lap seven, and quickly hunted down Bottas but was unable to get past him – allowing Rosberg to build a big advantage of over 10s by lap 15.

Bottas pitted for softs on lap 16, releasing Hamilton for a lap before he pitted. Hamilton’s stop was 0.5s slower, but still came out side by side with Bottas, who was able to brake on the clean side of the track and retain his net second place.

But Hamilton made a move stick on Bottas on the following lap, and then slammed in fastest lap on the next tour.

Raikkonen displayed solid pace at the end of his supersoft stint and pitted on lap 20. With Bottas getting stuck behind Fernando Alonso’s McLaren – which cost him 2s – Raikkonen rejoined ahead of the Williams, despite a stuttering getaway, in third.

Hamilton closed to within 7.7s of Rosberg, but was warned of a water-pressure issue just after half distance, despite still lapping quickly. He was told the problem had “stabilised” a few laps later, by which time the gap had extended to over 13s again.

Verstappen lost a certain top-six finish when reported “something with the engine” – which had belched a huge cloud of smoke during his practice start. He retired on lap 34.

Ricciardo bailed out of his medium-tyre gamble, dropping to 13th, as Perez pulled a great move to pass Sainz for ninth.

Sainz had earlier banged wheels with Renault’s Jolyon Palmer in a battle over 13th, with Sainz given a 10s penalty for forcing him off the track.

That meant that he would lose his point for tenth anyway, as Jenson Button’s McLaren was right on its tail when he locked up and ran wide with four laps to go, with Button outbraking him at the final corner to take the place anyway.

Ricciardo passed Palmer for 12th on lap 51, and was within 10s of Sainz to pick up 11th.

Another great duel was between Manor’s Pascal Wehrlein and Sauber’s Felipe Nasr, with Wehrlein pulling an aggressive move on lap 11 at Turn 2.

Nasr was forced to pit with a slow puncture, but they later resumed their barnstorming fight. The recovering Kvyat then became embroiled in the dispute, pulling a smart move on lap 28.

Wehrlein later suffered a stuck left-rear wheel in a pitstop, which demoted him to last.